Chills without Fever: The Most Common Causes and Treatments

When a person experiences chills or shivers they usually reach for the thermometer because chills are often accompanied by a fever. However, there are many medical and psychological reasons why you can have chills, but no fever. For example, chills without a fever can be caused by infections, an underactive thyroid, low blood sugar, and panic attacks. Even certain medications can cause your body to shiver without having a fever.

Chills are the body’s way of trying to raise its core temperature by rapidly contracting and relaxing the muscles. This can cause a person to start shivering, shake, or have rigors (sudden and intense chills). However, the chills don’t always increase your body’s temperature and they can be a result of an underlying condition. In this case they are not accompanied with a fever.

To treat chills that aren’t accompanied by fever, you usually need to address the underlying problem. However, sometimes just warming yourself up is enough to get rid of the shaking chills.

Advertisement

Causes and Treatments of Chills without a Fever

Cystitis or Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)

Cystitis (an infection of the bladder) or a urinary tract infection could be one of the reasons why you have chills, but no fever. Cystitis occurs when bacteria get into your urethra and cause an infection. This can result in a burning sensation when urinating, pelvic pain, and cloudy and bad-smelling urine. According to Dr. Jennifer Robinson on WebMD, if the bladder infection is more serious, it could result in chills with or without a fever.1

It’s important to treat any bladder infection or other UTIs as soon as possible to avoid any further complications. This is especially true if you experience chills with the bladder infection because it could be a sign that the infection has spread to your kidneys.1

If you have a bladder infection, you should drink plenty of water to flush out toxins from your body and this will help the infection to clear quicker.

You can also try drinking cranberry juice to prevent further occurrences of urinary tract infections. Cranberries are high in antioxidants and can help the bladder to function properly. A review into the effects of cranberries and UTIs found that there is some evidence that drinking cranberry juice can help to prevent UTIs and its associated symptoms.2

Side Effects of Medications

If you read the small print on many medications, you will find that chills, but no fever are often a side effect of taking medications. For example, Ibuprofen, Effexor, Voltaren, and Ondansetron are just a few of the medications that list chills as a possible side effect.3

Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is a condition where your thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone. Your thyroid is connected with your metabolism, and according to the American Thyroid Association, an underactive thyroid can cause you to feel greater sensitivity to the cold, which means that you shiver more.4 Other signs of an underactive thyroid are that you could feel more depressed, have dry skin, get constipated, and experience more fatigue.

Advertisement

In order for your thyroid to function properly and avoid the chills associated with it, you should enjoy a balanced diet incorporating healthy fats like nuts, seeds, coconut oil, legumes, and fish. Iodine is also important for proper thyroid function and some people have benefited from taking iodine supplements. However, you should consult with your doctor before taking iodine to boost your thyroid function.

Anemia

Anemia could be a reason that you have chills that aren’t accompanied by fever. Anemia occurs when the body doesn’t have enough red blood cells and this can cause shaking, fatigue, dizziness, and headaches. According to Dr. Melinda Ratni on WebMD, an iron deficiency or a vitamin B12 deficiency can cause you to become anemic.5

To avoid developing anemia caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency and the symptoms associated with it, you should eat foods that contain vitamin B12. The NHS in the United Kingdom says that a balanced diet containing sources of vitamin B12 like meat, dairy products, eggs, salmon, and cod should provide enough vitamin B12 for most people.6 Vegetarians and vegans have to make sure that they get enough of this vitamin. The non-animal options include consuming nutritional yeast, spirulina, and vitamin B12 fortified products, such as B12 fortified almond milk and cereals, and some breads.

To prevent anemia from a lack of iron in your diet, you should make sure and enjoy a balanced diet that contains green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, and almonds. Other good sources of iron are red meat, poultry, egg yolks and seafood. Please read my article on how to increase iron levels in your blood if you want to find out more information.

Advertisement

Anxiety or Panic Attacks

Experiencing chills without a fever could be a sign that you are having a panic attack or have a panic disorder. The shaking chills may be accompanied with a pounding heart, trembling, chest pain, nausea, and feeling dizzy. In fact, a report published in the Emergency Medicine Journal said that chills, lightheadedness, and a fear of dying were some of the most common symptoms associated with anxiety disorder.7

You can also put 1 – 2 drops of essential oil into the palm of your hand, cup your palms over your nose and inhale deeply 4 – 6 times to reduce your anxiety and help calm your central nervous system to reduce the chills.

Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is the medical name for low blood sugar and is often associated with diabetes. One of the classic symptoms of hypoglycemia is shaking chills without having a fever. This happens because the glucose (sugar) level is so low that the body can’t function properly. Other symptoms of hypoglycemia are dizziness, hunger, pounding heart, sweating, and anxiety.8

Advertisement

To treat shaking chills that are due to having low blood sugar, doctors recommend drinking some fruit juice or another type of drink containing sugar. However, this is just a quick fix to get rid of the chills.

Hypothermia

Shaking chills are one of the first symptoms of hypothermia. Hypothermia occurs when the body’s temperature drops and your muscles contract and relax quickly to try and warm up your body. If hypothermia progresses, a person will stop shivering and become disorientated, confused, start slurring his or her speech, and not be aware of the severity of their condition.

Elderly people are most at risk of hypothermia. However, certain medications can also increase the risk of hypothermia in some people. The National Institute on Aging warns that even a room temperature between 60°F and 65°F can trigger hypothermia in older people.9

If you notice someone shaking, looks visibly cold and has other symptoms of hypothermia you should immediately take steps to provide some warmth. Putting a blanket around the person and making sure the room temperature is at least 68°F should help to stop the shaking chills associated with hypothermia. You should also seek professional medical advice in cases of extreme hypothermia.

Sepsis (blood poisoning)

Sepsis (septicemia) is a dangerous blood infection which can cause organ failure, blood clotting, and a drop in blood pressure which can be life-threatening. According to Dr. Melinda Ratni on WebMD, one of the common symptoms of sepsis is shaking chills that can be accompanied with a low body temperature or a fever.10

Hi Viola, I’m not a doctor and cannot diagnose cases of specific people. As you know yourself better than anybody else, if you have any concerns regarding your health or have any unusual symptoms, then the safest option would be to visit your doctor for a proper diagnosis.

I have been experiencing internal chills – skin feels warm for now, into the 4th year. Have had breaks without chills then they cone back. I do have interstitial pneumonia – which is holding it’s own. have repeated bladder infections, have had multiple series of various antibiotics, finished last dose for UTI Saturday & Monday another UTI, so on antibiotics again. Also had several months of diarrhea, which is now controlled with meds. In 1015 when diagnoses – also have a deep cough which increases with activity. I had the chills, cough etc since July/15. They stayed for many months & many treatments tried. to

The Doctors are getting frustrated too, I have been very positive through this always expecting things will improve.
I have been checked for diabetes, thyroid. Last year lung biopsy found a bacterial infection in the lungs, heavy antibiotics – we assume cleared, having lung scan next week to see if it shows anything. Any edeas? Fern Heslop

Hi Fern, I know how frustrating it can be to suffer from chills for such a long time, not knowing exactly what causes it. As you could see from the article, there can be quite a number of possibilities for having chills, and these are just the most common ones. It might be that your repeated bladder infections may have spread to your kidneys, but this requires medical tests (as you are going to do). I personally don’t feel comfortable to give specific advice because I’m not a doctor, and I feel that you need a professional medical diagnosis. I believe further medical tests are required and I hope they will reveal soon the root cause of the problem. If you suffer from repeated UTIs, you may want to try D-Mannose which is a natural supplement that was found to significantly reduce the risk of recurrent UTI – see more information HERE.

I have been experiencing severe neck and shoulder pain after some very stressful months. I even had an aura (I saw colors and shapes for about 15 minutes) and migraine headache although i’ve never suffered from migraine in my life only tension headaches which I have OFTEN. 2 days later I woke up with very tense and sore neck/shoulder and couldn’t move my head to the side for 3 days. On the third day I did a lot of light stretching and breathing exercises as well as walking and trying to relax my shoulders and the next day I felt much better and I could move my head painlessly and still no pain but I have a pressure on the back of my neck as if my head is very heavy for my neck to hold up! But as soon as I attempt to improve my posture it goes away after a while but then comes back, I also have back pain that moves around and I can occasionally feel it in my chest, collarbones and even my throat, as if my throat and jaw is very tense.

And yes I also get chills for no reason. No fever and my overall well being is fine, not affected at all. I am a bit more tired than usual though. No injury and no bruises or swelling in the sore areas of my back. I keep having to let my shoulders down though because they tense up all the time but that is nothing new, I am always tense and easily affected by stress but never experienced pain or chills from it before other than headaches. Should I be concerned? I have no (yet) spoken to a doctor or physician as I suspect stress-related pain which I should in that case be able to treat myself, yes?

It’s hard to know the real cause of the problem without a professional medical examination as every person reacts differently to stress. In my article “How Stress Affects Your Body” I’ve mentioned that neck and shoulder pains are very common among people who feel stressed. If you suspect that your pain is due to extreme stress, then it should subside once the stressful period go away or when you take some measurements to relax yourself. But as you know, it’s often not easy for some people to treat themselves for stress, and they may require professional help. If you see that time goes on and the symptoms continue or you are not able to overcome the stress, then I would go to see the doctor.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Join Our 2 Million Fans

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

At Healthy and Natural World, our mission is to empower people to take control of their own health by providing comprehensive, practical and well researched information.

Our articles are based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts. We strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.

Our articles contain scientific references which are numbered. Some of the references are clickable and some are found at the end of the article in the references section. The references are clickable and linked to peer-reviewed scientific papers or authority medical sites.

Our content does not constitute a medical consultation. If you have a medical problem you should seek advice from a doctor and other health care professional. For additional information please see our Full Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.